Comments | bop_radar: Are you calling me bird?

bop_radar

Are you calling me bird?

Sep 20, 2009 19:31

This post has a sneaky double purpose. It is the long-owed meta post I promised talitha78 on her masterpiece talitha78's That's Not My Name but it doubles as some pre-season-9 reflections on Smallville and, most importantly, Clark Kent. ( cut for a lot of gushy Clark love )

vid_meta, smallville_meta, vid_recs

Comments 19

carolandtom September 21 2009, 14:42:39 UTC

I loved your comments about Clark and Tom! I always liked Superman but Tom made me love the character of Clark Kent from day one and he keeps me watching. It's been delightful to read your post and your awesome meta. My expectations for season 9 are very low (I don't trust the writers, particularly the show-runners) but Clark, Tom and posters like you make me look forward to it. Thanks!

bop_radar September 21 2009, 22:22:39 UTC

I'm glad you enjoyed it! My expectations are low too (even if I got a bit excited in this post!). It's foolish to have them be otherwise. But I know the minute I see Tom on my screen again it will all seem worth it!

gildinwen September 25 2009, 10:47:42 UTC

I love this meta post, and in fairness to your younger viewing self, I think we WERE meant to a) sympathise with Lex, and find faults with Clark. We were meant to sympathise with the villian. I think it's meant to be a 'benefit of hindsight' thing, because otherwise the story would make NO sence. It's only with the benefit of hindsight we can see how much shady shit Lex WAS up to. You weren't naive, it was the combination of MR's acting and the subtle (I know, Smallville? Sublte?, sympathising with Lex until his darkness does become impossible to ignore at which point you sit up and go "No, I can't sympathise with you any more". It's what makes the character so dangerous :D
But Clark....oh my Clark...I've always loved him, even when I wanted to strangle him, but this vid just made me love him more. :D

bop_radar September 26 2009, 05:53:43 UTC

Oh, thank you! :) And I agree with you, I do think the series was deliberately constructed to make you sympathetic towards Lex. Interesting story: a RL friend of mine got into SV via season 5 (as a James Marsters fan) and watched through to season 7 and by then was hooked enough to want to go back and watch from the beginning. But she couldn't bear Season 1 and chickened out because she said she was absolutely STAGGERED to discover that Lex had once been this lovely young man and knowing in advance how he ends up, she just couldn't bear to keep watching!

It's true that talitha's vid does make me love Clark more! It's so wonderful--it takes my existing love and elevates it to a new level.

gildinwen September 28 2009, 11:06:48 UTC

What I really love about it, is that for all the titles of godhood the series puts on Clark..this vid really makes the point, at his core Clark IS who Superman is. He's just a boy who grew up on a farm, who wanted to help people.

*huggles him*

It IS devastating to watch Lex's Journey through the seasons isn't it? Because there still is a part of him that is that lovely young man -no matter how much shady stuff Lex was up to there was always a chance that he could change his destiny and be the good man that he wanted to be- but he won't listen to it. And that's why it hurts, us and Clark so much

bop_radar September 28 2009, 23:26:00 UTC

Awww, that's a great summation of the vid's point! Thank you for sharing it!

And yes, Smallville was so (bravely) cruel that way... it really put it out there that Lex could have changed his destiny. But didn't. OUCH! So brilliant--in the end, that works as the perfect way to put us in Clark's perspective because it was Clark who went through that journey, watching Lex with so much hope and trust and then slowly realising that Lex is out of his reach, but never not feeling pain and sadness about that.